1 . In the community of Mudgeeraba, a remarkable story has occurred, displaying a more connected society.

Living far from her own family and with her husband having no parents left, Nina, a new mom, was feeling the weight of   ________ in her motherhood journey. Nina found herself ________ not just for company, but for a unique form of cross-generational ________. So she determined to take a ________ step.

Nina put out a heartfelt ________ in her community for an “adoptive grandma” for herself and her baby Millie. The outpouring of support was nothing short of ________. Among the sea of ________, 61-year-old Christine, a resident in the same suburb as Nina, emerged as the perfect ________. Desperate for a grandchild of her own, Christine was seeking for a ________ for filling the emptiness left by the ________ of grandchildren in her life.

Since their initial meeting six months ago, Christine has lovingly ________ the role of Grandma Christine to little Millie, to whom she ________ she has an unlimited supply of love to give. The newfound relationship goes beyond just a ________, with weekly park walks and play dates becoming precious moments for both Nina and Christine.

The unexpected ________ rooted in a simple act of reaching out has not only provided Nina with the care and wisdom of the older generation, dramatically ________ her tension after giving birth, but offered Christine a sense of purpose and connection in her later years.

3 . In a crowded migrant (移民) camp in Tijuana, Mexico, a three-year-old girl wandered ________ toward the exit. She was steps from a busy road. Estefanía Rebellón was the only person who ________ her. The writer had just driven from Los Angeles with a group of friends to drop off food and clothing to a(n) ________ organization.

It was December 2018, a time when the US-Mexico border was seeing migrants from Central America ________ violence and poverty. Rebellón rushed over to the child and took her ________. “Where are your parents?” she asked anxiously. Eventually, she and her friends found the girl’s ________ father, who had stepped away to ________ for food.

Back at home, Rebellón gathered a group of volunteer ________ via social media, and using a thousand dollars from her ________, set up a school at the Tijuana border. In five years, the pilot program has grown into the non-profit Yes We Can World Foundation, which has ________ three school buses into classrooms and established two schools.

________ by donations, the foundation’s teachers have provided a bilingual education to more than 3,000 kids. The schools ________ an official curriculum (课程) from Mexico’s education ministry. They also offer ________ courses, which help kids understand more about migration.

Rebellón has received numerous ________ for her work, including Outstanding American by Choice. As more than 6.6 million people still live in refugee camps around the world, she says she’d like to ________ the foundation’s influence and support migrant children globally.

4 . At the Nelson Street Pub in Pembroke, they’re prepared for customers who dine and dash. In fact, they ________ it.

On a wall inside the front door are meal ________ that have been paid for by customers, staff, other businesses or residents. Above them is a ________ that reads: “If you are hungry and have no money, these meals have been paid for ________.” All anyone has to do is ________ the ticket they want and give it to a server. The meal appears — no questions asked, no ________ cast.

I drove to the restaurant on a Friday to check it out. There I met Sharon Gribbons, who lives in Waltham, Que. She had ________ to put a couple of meals up on the wall, one on behalf of a friend. She planned to ________ a meal every month. “Everyone needs a hot meal,” she explained.

Over the few hours I spent at the restaurant, six people ________ themselves of the pub’s generosity, while customers ________ eight meals to the pantry (食品贮藏柜), including the “Fishy and Chippy” meal I put on my own bill.

It’s ________ that the service plays an important role: offering free hot meals at a pub where people are ________, not avoided; where they can interact with others, watch TV or listen to music; and, with luck, forget their ________ for an hour or so. I hope its success isn’t dependent ________ on that small-town neighborly atmosphere, because this is a ________ that needs to travel beyond Pembroke — into Ottawa, and elsewhere. Everywhere.

5 . Imagine suddenly waking up at midnight, ______ for air, heart pounding, feeling tense and experiencing this night after night. The ______ of the lack of sleep was the ______ need to lie down and fall asleep for 2-3 hours. This was my experience throughout the summer of 2021.

I guess it may have been in part the ______ the pandemic had on my mental health as well as other worries. During the daylight hours, I ______ myself in various ways but at night during sleep my fear and ______ would come to the surface. I ______ I needed to find ways to deal with my worries.

After much ______, I began to seek the assistance of medicine, which was a tough decision to make. But it ______ well. I made sure to walk in nature as much as possible and continued my yoga practice. Slowly, I found my way back to myself.

However, life ______ another curve ball into my life. In December 2023, those nighttime feelings that ______ me flowed into my days again. I turned to friends and family, who encouraged me to seek professional help. I ______ to a therapist specialized in this field, and together, we analyzed the problems and applied the related ______ to coping with them. While the process didn’t go ______, my symptoms gradually disappeared with my efforts at last.

In conclusion, this is what I would like to say —when in trouble, reach out for help, talk to family and friends, your doctor or a counsellor. Take time to take care of yourself, you are worth the ______.

8 . Jessica Cox is the world’s first licensed armless pilot.

Born without arms, Cox never let her _________ become her disadvantage. She learned at a young age how to use her feet as her hands. And after eleven years of wearing prosthetic arms (假肢), she decided to be “the real Jessica” and _________ the arms. This was the start of her new life.

Cox loved swinging because it was something that she could control and _________ flying over everything. And this _________ her determination to become a pilot.

She had her first _________ of being a pilot during a trip to Mexico in a small plane. She had the _________ to place her foot on the yoke (操纵杆) and feel the experience of being in the air. After that, her childhood _________ of planes disappeared. The feeling of control of the freedom was more _________ than her horror. On that day, she decided to _________ her dream of becoming a pilot. This was not without __________ though. Finding an instructor was a challenge. A lot were __________ teaching and qualifying an armless pilot. Cox didn’t give up and eventually found herself a(n) __________. Her dream became a reality in 2008 when she took her first solo flight.

Cox is not only a pilot but also a __________ for people with disabilities. As a motivational speaker, she has traveled across the world to __________ others. She is a fighter for the __________ of persons with disabilities, which gives them access to education, health care, and the same advantages she had growing up.

10 . When it comes to high-proof fathering lessons, few adventures can compare with the motorcycle trip I shared with my 20-year-old daughter Ewa.

In 2023, we _________ a one-week motorcycle trip in the southern part of British Columbia. Each _________ a motorcycle, we headed north on the Sea-to-Sky highway. What made this trip so _________ was that Ewa took it on herself to be the planner. We didn’t even have a _________ about it. As a father, wasn’t I supposed to plan it?

My old Harley had no gas gauge (汽油表). So, when the main gas tank was empty, the motorcycle _________. After all, these years I hadn’t known whether I would _________ it. But on the first day of our annual trip, when we were on a lonely highway leading to the US border in Sagna, Ontario, it came to a _________ after some time.

Ewa headed into the distance_________ that she was riding alone. When she _________ noticed that I wasn’t in her rearview (后视镜) mirror, she stopped and waited as I pushed my Harley to meet with her. In my adult life, while __________ children, I always followed my parents’ __________: I stood by and provided support. When Ewa __________ her own way of life, I seldom said ‘no’. But when she said she wanted to __________ with the out-of-fuel motorcycle on the side of the country road while I was going for gasoline, I said “no way”. I wouldn’t let her stay there on her own. She insisted, but I was very __________. Ewa finally __________ and went looking for gasoline with me.

I learn from the trip that however old my child is, I will never stop being a father.